Pinless clothes-line



Patented Sept. 20, I898.

J. W. JACKSON.

PINLESS CLOTHES LINE.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1898.)

(0 Model.)

rfr-n 1 JESSEE w. JACKSON, or wI sToiv, NORTH CAROLINA.

PINLESS CLOTHES-LINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 610,906, dated September 20, 1898.

Application filed March so, 1398. Serial No. 675,816. (No'modeL) T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssnn W. J AOKSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winston, in the county of Forsyth and State of North Carolina, have inventeda new and usef ul Pinless Clothes-Line, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to pinless clotheslines; and the object in view is to provide a clothes-line link having a spirally-twisted slot and to provide a clothes-line of the class described wherein the introduction of an article between the sides of its slot will not separate said sides from the point of contact of the article to the outer end of the slot, but wherein the slot sides will close or come together at both ends of the separated portion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clothes-line of the class described wherein the suspended articles are held in place not only by the frictional contact of the sides of the slot with which they are engaged, but by the abrupt or sharpbending of such article over one side of the slot; and a further object of the invention is to provide improved means forsecuring the free ends of the blank from which each link of the clothes-line is formed to prevent separation or other disarrangement of the parts thereof.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a pinless clothes-line constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the links. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showing an article of fabric engaged with the slot at a point contiguous to the eye or spread portions of the sides of the link. Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, showing the position of the fabric when carried inwardly to a point contiguous to the center of the link. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the look at the center of the link.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlngs.

The clothes-line embodying my invention consists of a plurality'of connected links 1,

corresponding in construction and each constructed of a single blank of wire (preferably spring-wire) doubled upon itself at intermediate points to form oppositely-extending alined loops, the extremities of the blank being carried inwardly and interlocked with the center of the blank to prevent separation of the sides of the loops. The outer or remote portions of the loops formed by the wire blank are spread or enlarged to constitute eyes 2, having inwardlyconvergent sides, and in communication with these eyes the slots formed between the contacting sides of the loops extend inwardly to the lock 3 at the center of the link. These engaging slots between the contacting portions of the sides ofthe loops, however, are spirally twisted from the outermost points of contact of the sides of the loops inwardly to the central lock, and this spirally-twisted construction of the slots isformed by spirally intertwisting the sides or members of the loops from the points ofcontact of said sides inwardly to the lock. The extent of a twist may be varied to suit the length of the link and the peculiar conditions under which the device is to be used; but in practice I have found it desirable to form in each loop from the point of contact of its sides to the look a twist of not less than one-half turn. Hence when" the edge of an article to be suspended upon the clothes-line is inserted between the spread portions of the sides of a loop, the edge of the article being upward, and the article is then drawn inwardly or toward the central lock of the link, the spiral twist of the slot turns said upper edge of the article over and downwardly, whereby, as shown in Fig. 4., when the engaged portion of the article reaches a point contiguous to the center of the link the edge of the article extends downwardly, whereby the article forms an abrupt bend around one of the sides or members of the loop forming that portion of the link. This bend in the article serves to assist in maintaining the article in engagement with the clothes-line, and thus renders it possible to maintain the article in place with less severe frictional contact of the sides of the slot therewith.

A further advantage of this spiral twisting of the sides of the slots resides in the fact that the introduction of an article between said sides only spreads the latter at the point occupied by the article. For instance, the Wire forming the near side of the slot at one point forms the far side thereof at another point, whereby when an article is introduced between the sides of the slot the spreading thereof is resisted by the bearing of said sides against each other ata contiguous point. Furthermore, as an article is moved longitudinally of the slot in Which it is engaged, and thus spreads the sides of the slot consecutively at different points,the separatingpressure applied to the sides of the slot varies in direction, and hence not only does not tend to maintain the sides of the slot open in rear of the article, but, on the other hand, tends to close the slot. Hence when an article is engaged with the slot of a link constructed in accordance with my invention at a point remote from the inlet end of the slot or the spread portions of the sides of the slot the slot is, closed both in front and in rear of the article and thus resists longitudinal disserves to hold the short side of the opposite loop in contact with the body portion of the link, Whereas longitudinal displacement of the coils is prevented by reason of the interlooking engagement at their points of intersection. I

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, What I claim is' V A pinless clothes-line having a link constructed of a single blank of Wire, doubled upon itself at intermediate points to form oppositelyextending alined loops having their sides intertwisted and being terminally separated to form clothes-receiving eyes, the extremities of the blank being extended inwardly beyond the center of the body portion of the blank, and Wrapped in opposite directions around said body portion and the contiguous portion of the other extremity to form 5 5 a plurality of coils completely encircling the doubled portions of the blank, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JESSEE W. JACKSON.

Witnesses:

A. M. MEoUM, E. A. TUCKER. 

